The other day I was walking down our narrow stairway with Emerald in my arms. She pointed to the wall in front of us and “verbalized” the familiar squawk she makes when she wants to stop and examine something. Posted in my stairwell is 2 Corinthians 5:7, God’s advice for us to walk by faith and not by sight.
Emerald and I stopped and stood on the steps while I read the words to her, pointing to each one. At 15 months she has no understanding of their meaning, but I put lots of animation into the reading, and when I finished, she put her pudgy hands together and applauded. We laughed and moved on down the stairs. And that was that.
Later I thought, why can’t I read those words to her every single time we go down the stairs together? Eventually she’ll begin expecting me to stop and read, and one day (after she learns to talk in more than single words) she’ll start reciting the words along with me. Though she still won’t understand them, a lovely thing will have been accomplished: the memorization of an important, practical piece of God’s truth. And eventually she’ll want to know what it means.
How great it is that the God behind Scripture’s words is the same Person today in 2014 as he was 2000 years ago when that letter to the Corinthian church was put on parchment. And his unchanged nature is the reason we can post pieces of the Bible in our homes (or anywhere else) with confidence in its value and power.
Of course we should be careful never to take verses out of context or twist their meaning to fit personal purposes. But when we post these verses with a sincere desire that God himself permeate our homes and families, I believe it pleases him.
He strongly encourages us to do it in Deuteronomy 11 where he says, “Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds… Teach them to your children… Talk about them when you sit, walk, lie down, get up… Write them on the door-frames of your houses.”
It’s that last part that has motivated me to hang up bits of the Bible in every room.
If we intentionally soak our minds in these potent words, it’ll gradually shape our thinking and then our lives, how we act and what we say. And when we miss the mark (as I often do), visible Scripture can bring us back to center.
Every time I walk downstairs, with or without Emerald in my arms, my eyes fall on God’s advice to walk by faith and not by sight. And even a thick-headed person like me eventually finds herself folding this principle into her life.
I pray it will one day be the same for Emerald.
“I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.” (Psalm 119:11)
